Andrew campbell



(No Model.)

A. CAMPBELL.

MANUFACTURE OF HATS.

No. 368,188. Patented Aug. 16, 1887.

F i 1 F i a F i g. .2- F 1 5 4 a b" ma (N a],

INVENTOR= W1TNESSES= By his flttorney,

ANDREW CAMPBELL, OF BROOKLYN, NEAV YORK,

THE HAT MACHINE COMPANY, OF SAME AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO PLACE.

ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT MANUFACTURE OF HATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 368,188, dated August 16, 1887.

Application filed October 153, 1886. Serial No. 216,014. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in the Manufacture of Hats, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in the manufacture of stiff felt hats; and the object of myinvention is in part to facili tate the operation of finishing the hat, and in part to produce a better finish than is obtained by the mode of operation now in common use.

By the ordinary method the unfinished hat, after being properly charged with shellac, and while quite hot and pliable, is blocked in the usual way. This blocking imparts to thehatbody the proper oval or elliptical form, and the brim makes a sharp angle with the body at the line of its junction therewith. The hat is now pounced and lured before its removal from the block, these last operations giving it a soft velvety finish. Owing to the oval or elliptical form of the hat-body, given to it by the blocking, it is found to be impracticable to effect the pouncing and luring thereafter by any other means than the hands, and this renders the finishing a comparatively slow and expensive process. Being dependent wholly on the operator, it is also apt to produce variable and not uniformly good results.

My process or method of operation in its ontirety consists in giving the hot and pliable uu finished hat, previously charged with shellac orlike stiffeningsnbstance,apreliminary shaping, in a mold or die, for example, and by preference, whereby its body is given a round, cylindrical, or slightly conical form,i1.1stead of an oval or elliptical form, and the brim isjoined to the body by a curve instead of by an angle that is to say, the hat has a form that may be turned in a lathe with ordinary centers. hen cool and stiff, the hat is put in a lathe and pounced, both inside and outside, if de sired, and lured by the usual means. After this pouncing and luring the hatis reheated until it is again pliable, and theproper form given to it by blocking or molding to fit it for the market.

It will be seen that my method comprises as its essential features the preliminary shaping of the hat to adapt it for rotation in a lathe, then the pouncing, and then the reheating and shaping for the market, these steps being taken in the order named. In the ordinary process the preliminary shaping is omitted, and the last two steps are reversed in their order of succession, the pouncing being the last step.

In the aecompanyi ng drawings, Figures 1 and 2 show the form I give to the hat by the preliminary shaping before pouncing. Fig. 1 is a plan, and Fig. 2 a section through the axis of the hat on line 2 2 in Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4. are similar views showing the form given to the hat by the ordinary method before pouncing. These views show an ordinary stiff Derby hat.

In Figs. 1 and 2, (t represents the body of the hat, of cylindrical form; I), the crown, of hemispherical or convex form; 0, thcbrim, and (7. the curve where the brim joins the body.

In Figs. 3 and 4, a is the body of the hat, of elliptical form; I), the crown,ofsemi-ellipsoidal form, and c the brim, which forms a sharp angle with the body at d. 5

It will be seen that the hat illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 is of such a form that any plane passing through it perpendicular to its axis will be a circle plane, and this form adapts it to being mounted in alathe and pounced while So rapidly rotated. It may be pounced in this way both inside and out.

I do not limit myself to any particular mechanism or apparatus for carrying outmyinvention; nor is it material to my invention what form is given to the hat after thepouncing and reheating.

I wish it understood, however, that my heroin-described method relates to the finishing of stiff hats exclusively, and not to soft felthats. 0 These latter are flexible and yielding, and do not require to be specially shaped like a stiff hat.

Vhere the hat is not required to have an oval form, as in styles of stiff felt hats for women and children, I may omit the last steps of reheating and blocking. Such hats may have bodies, usually slightly conical, of forms that can be pounced on a lathe.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. Theherein-describcd improvelnentin the manufacture of stiff felt hats, which consists in first charging the hat with the usual quantity of shellac to produce a stiff hat, then giving to v the hat while still hot a cylindrical or round form, as described, then mounting itinalathe, and then pouncing it while it is being rapidly revolved on its axis in said lathe, as set forth.

2. The herein-described improvement in the manufacture of stiff felthats, which consists in 

